Coming off a 72-10 win over Grambling State, LSU football now sets its sights on SEC play, starting with a road matchup against Mississippi State.
The game is LSU’s first true road game of the year, and Brian Kelly’s first trip to Starkville, Mississippi, as LSU’s head coach. He addressed the media Monday to start game week.
Here are some takeaways from Kelly’s Monday press conference:
Matchup with Mississippi State
Mississippi State poses a different challenge to LSU than it did last year, no longer running the air raid scheme under late head coach Mike Leach. Through two games this season, Mississippi State running back Jo’Quavious Marks leads the SEC in rushing yards in an offense Kelly described as more traditional.
Kelly also noted the strength in Mississippi State’s depth and experience. Quarterback Will Rogers is in his fourth season as starting quarterback and has over 11,000 career passing yards.
“Will Rogers is probably one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the SEC,” Kelly said. “When you have that, you’ve got experience in the quarterback position, it’s a really good thing.”
Defensively, Mississippi State’s scheme is similar to what it was last year, with former defensive coordinator Zach Arnett becoming the head coach after Leach’s death. The Bulldogs are experienced on defense, something Kelly noted.
“They’ve got depth with numbers on defense in terms of seniors and graduate seniors,” Kelly said. “[They’re] Coming off a really good win in overtime against Arizona, so a great challenge for our football team.”
Denver Harris and the secondary
Texas A&M transfer Denver Harris played his first LSU snaps in Saturday’s win after missing the Florida State game. When giving his evaluation of Harris, Kelly mentioned Harris’ background as a press corner and the progress he has made learning the different coverages.
“He’s a press corner, and we don’t just play press,” Kelly said. “We play press and we play bail and we play off and then we play press to off and so there’s a lot of different things that he’s learning.”
When talking about the secondary as a whole, Kelly admitted that he knew there would be early struggles.
“We knew that we were playing new players back there and the challenges were going to be in developing players with very little experience, but with talent,” Kelly said. “But talent is only one part of the equation.”
Injury Report
Kelly listed Mason Taylor and Omar Speights on the injury report as probable after both left the Grambling game with injuries. Kelly also said after the game Saturday that running back John Emery will be available for the Mississippi State game after missing the first two games.
The running backs
After not playing against Florida State, Logan Diggs emerged as LSU’s top running back against Grambling. He led all rushers with 115 yards on 15 carries while adding a touchdown. When asked whether LSU will look to use one running back more than the others, Kelly said it could depend on the situation.
“We’re going to feature a guy that’s feeling it and is hot if you will, but we have enough depth that we can spell a guy and I think that’s a good thing,” Kelly said.
Josh Williams, Noah Cain and Kaleb Jackson all got carries against Grambling, and Emery, Armoni Goodwin and Tre Bradford could all be in the mix too.
“I still think that we’re in the position to find out who that featured player is. But I still think we can play multiple backs and still have the kind of continuity at the position that’s necessary,” Kelly said.
